Myths and Narratives
My great-grandfather was a school teacher in West Virginia. He taught in rural schools that were one-room school houses in what he called the "boondocks." He rode his horse between schools and parents of his students would put him up for the night. His storytelling, according to my father and grandfather, was so powerful that kids believed his myths even though he told them it was just a story. One of his stories (about how horses came into existence) has been told by other family members through the years. I will tell that story in this paper.
How Horses Came into Existence -- Summary
The story of how the horse came into existence involves a little boy, his dog, his family and a pail that holds water. Basically this story is about the family's need for water and the great distance family members had to travel to fetch water and bring it back to the little cabin. In this story it takes the little boy so long to walk to the river (several miles away) and carry the bucket back to the family cabin, he prayed to the Great Sky that he could have a way to bring more water faster and out of those sincere prayers came a miracle. His little dog turned into a horse, and he was able to bring water faster to his mother who needed it to cook the food.
The Moral / Lesson of This Story
Once upon a time, before there were cities and roads and cars, there was just open space and hills, and a few rivers, in West Virginia. The need to bring water fell into the hands of the little boy (named Munte), who was...
He had the chore of bringing water because everyone else was busy. There was very little rain in West Virginia in those times so water was precious. The family ate rice, potatoes, beets and other vegetables when the sky gave enough rain to grow the crops, but when there was little or no rain the family got some rice and vegetables from a farmer forty miles away who traded his food for work. Munte's big brother and sister worked for this man in turn for the food the family needed.
There was very little rain in this time period but there were rivers from which families could get water and Munte was busy most days walking to the nearest river (several miles away), filling the wooden bucket (which his grandfather had made from the oak tree) with water (up to ae full, because when it was full he spilled some) and walking back to the family cabin.
This process took a whole morning. In the afternoon Munte walked those miles back to the river and filled the bucket up three-quarters full again, and walked back home with the water so his mother could cook supper. Munte was never lonely because his dog, Taget, was always with him. Munte did not have a good pair of shoes so he walked in used moccasins that an old Indian had given to his grandfather. Munte's feet had calluses that helped avoid blisters, but sometimes Munte would step on a sharp thistle or rock and hurt his feet.
Munte said his prayers every day in the evening before he went to sleep. He prayed to the Great Sky…
